The BS of Storytelling

Computer Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) annual conference • June 19, 2015 • Denver, CO.



Storytelling, you know the metaphors- cave paintings, campfires. There are all kinds of ways I could describe them, and the BS is not the BS you may be thinking of. Rather than defining, constraining storytelling, I share my experiences of creating digital stories and teaching to others of what "works" as elements, with suggestions how you can think of it as more than just a magic spice you sprinkle on your work. Like most, I have my own internal conversation-- "I'm not a storyteller". A hook of interest, the shape of a narrative, a character to care about, suspension of belief, using less, media metaphors are story techniques that you can integrate into your work as educators.

Video Archive (session starts about 20 minutes in, but John Mayer's opening is worth watching)

URLs Mentioned (and a few more for kicks)

• The Keychain Story
  • Keychains, Retelling, and Getting to the Heart of Stories http://cogdogblog.com/2013/06/03/heart-of-stories/
  • Talking About Keys- An Opener http://cogdogblog.com/2012/08/29/talking-about-keys/
    
    
• Story Openings
  • "Knock" by Frederick Brown http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_(short_story)
    
    
• The Hook
  • We Found a Flash Drive By The Road http://youtu.be/IG1ZkW_u_Bw
  • JJ Abrams The Mystery Box http://youtu.be/vpjVgF5JDq8
    
    
• Changing Expectations
  • Troy Library: Book Burning Party http://youtu.be/AoT13m8-Kxo
  • "...a semblance of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith." Samuel Taylor Coleridge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_of_disbelief
  • Willing Suspension of Disbelief http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/magazine/07wwln-safire-t.html?_r=0
    
    
• Character
  • Meet your Modern Office commercial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmwVxIbdeWc
  • Google Nexus 7 Commercial http://youtu.be/Lmf0F7JxxXE
  • We Tell Stories (Trailer) http://youtu.be/ytq4VZ2Nyxg
  • "When you are in the middle of a story" (Margaret Atwood quote) http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/163271-when-you-are-in-the-middle-of-a-story-it
    
    
• The Shape of Stories
  • Kurt Vonnegut "The Shape of Stories" http://youtu.be/oP3c1h8v2ZQ
  • Removing the Tension from the Budweiser Puppy Love Video (Literally) http://www.ishmaelscorner.com/budweiser-puppy-love-storytelling/
  • The Story Spine by Kenn Adams http://aerogrammestudio.com/2013/06/05/back-to-the-story-spine/
    
    
• Brain Science of Storytelling
  • Paul Zak: Empathy, Neurochemistry, and Dramatic Arc http://youtu.be/DHeqQAKHh3M
  • Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling https://hbr.org/2014/10/why-your-brain-loves-good-storytelling/
  • The Brain Science Behind Storytelling https://www.melcrum.com/research/strategy-planning-tactics/science-behind-storytelling
    
    
• Building Suspense
  • Alfred Hitchcock On Mastering Cinematic Tension (difference between surprise and suspense) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPFsuc_M_3E
  • The Ultimate Hitch Cookbook https://vimeo.com/26156757
  • Give a Great Speech: 3 Tips from Aristotle http://www.inc.com/john-baldoni/deliver-a-great-speech-aristotle-three-tips.html
    
    
• By Scientists
  • Don't Be Such a Scientist (by Randy Olsen) http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Be-Such-Scientist-Substance/dp/1597265632
  • Grab Attention and Communicate - Orange experiment http://youtu.be/9_LLj4_3ZRA
  • One Minute Physics http://www.youtube.com/minutephysics
  • Story of Stuff http://www.storyofstuff.org
  • Three Acts Math Problems (Dan Meyer) http://threeacts.mrmeyer.com/

Alan's Storymaking Cards

• pechaflickr http://pechaflickr.net/
• Five Card Flickr Stories http://5card.cogdogblog.com/
• DS106 http://ds106.us
  • Open DS106 http://ds106.us/open-course
  • DS106 Assignment Bank http://assignments.ds106.us
  • The Daily Create http://tdc.ds106.us/
  • A DS106 Thing Happened on the Way to the 3M Tech Forum (Journal of Interactive Media in Education) http://jime.open.ac.uk/articles/10.5334/jime.ag/
  • ds106: Not a Course, Not Like Any MOOC (EDUCAUSE Review) http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/ds106-not-course-not-any-mooc
  • Assignment Riffing: What Happens in DS106 Does Not Stay in DS106 (MLA 2015) http://cogdogblog.com/stuff/mla15/
  • ds106 is Made of the Stuff the Web is Made of (WCET) https://wcetblog.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/ds106/
• 50+ Web Ways to Tell a Story http://50ways.wikispaces.com
• The Storybox http://cogdogblog.com/storybox

Best Stuff

• Center for Digital Storytelling - they more or less invented the idea of digital storytelling and offer workshops, webinars, books, etc geared towards producing personal digital video stories. http://storycenter.org
• The New Digital Storytelling - book and more by Bryan Alexander http://newdigitalstorytelling.net/
• Inside the Story Magazine - eBooks by Adam Westbrook (temporarily not available Jan 2015 http://www.insidethestory.org/) see Adam's work at https://adamwestbrook.wordpress.com/